Replying To legendzxix: "People used to give out about the matches to training ratio. Too few matches! Now it has gone the other way. Rounds 3, 4 and 5 in the league and 6, 7 and finals for those who make the league finals are probably the best preparation for that schedule later in the year."
This is something the GAA has been bad at.
Over correcting.
The season can be both to spaced out previously and now too condensed. There's such a thing as a happy medium. It's the same with the split season and certainty over club fixtures. It's being insured at the expense of having county players being available to their clubs.
The "New Format 2026 All Ireland" double elimination could be applied in group stage format instead: • Round 1 winners playing each other in Round 2. • Top 2 only qualifying for quarter finals. • 2 home games for provincial finalists. • 1 home game for league qualifiers. • Provincial winners at home to 2 and 3 • Provincial runners up at home to 3 and 4 • Seed 3 at home to 4. • Seed 4 at home to provincial winners. 2025 EXAMPLE: Group 1: Donegal, Mayo, Tyrone and Cavan. 1. Tyrone beat Donegal and Cavan beat Mayo. 2. Tyrone beat Cavan and Donegal beat Mayo. 3. Donegal (1 win) v Cavan (1 win) in quarter final playoff. Tyrone (2 wins) v Mayo (2 losses) is what it is. Tyrone already qualified and Mayo already eliminated. Group 2: Kerry, Meath, Roscommon and Cork. 1. Kerry beat Roscommon and Meath beat Cork. 2. Meath shock Kerry and Cork beat Roscommon. 3. Kerry (1 win) v Cork (1 win). Meath (2 wins) v Roscommon (2 losses) Group 3: Louth, Clare, Monaghan and Down. 1. Monaghan beat Louth and Down beat Clare. 2. Monaghan beat Down and Louth beat Clare. 3. Down (1 win) v Louth (1 win). Monaghan (2 wins) v Clare (0 wins) Group 4: Galway, Armagh, Dublin and Derry. 1. Dublin beat Galway and Armagh beat Derry. 2. Armagh beat Dublin and Galway draw with Derry. 3. Dublin (2 points) v Derry (1 point). Armagh (4 points) v Galway (1 point). NOTES: Group stage guarantees at least 1 home game. The trade off is that 2 wins v 2 losses in round 3 are dead rubbers. The decision boils down to double elimination avoiding all dead rubbers or group stage guaranteeing 1 home game. The media can complain about dead rubbers but as the other round 3 clash will have quarter final qualification on the line - they can just focus on those fixtures. Butter or mayo? Beef or salmon? Tea or coffee? Avoid dead rubbers or guarantee 1 home game??!! In a straight vote, would be interesting to see which one of the two would be more preferred. At least 51% support for one over the other should suffice.